Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Commission eased the importation requirements for the pets of Ukrainian refugees (to allow refugees to get their pets out of Ukraine rapidly) through modification of the rules of the EU Pet Travel Scheme (EU PETS), a process referred to as “derogation”.   

The Derogation Scheme includes a four-month period of home isolation for pets following their arrival in the EU, as compared to the regular three-month waiting period in the home country. However, as rabies in dogs and cats remains widespread in Ukraine, the importation of animals poses a continual threat to rabies spreading in the EU. Bristol Veterinary School researchers wanted to investigate whether the change in regulations and the easing of importation requirements for the pets of Ukrainian refugees increased the risk of rabies introduction to the EU. 

To assess this, the team used a mathematical modelling approach to compare different levels of compliance by pet owners for the EU PETS scheme, and the Derogation Scheme (for the pets of Ukrainian refugees).

Their results showed that when pet owners complied 100% with the new rules under the Derogation Scheme, the annual risk of rabies introduction from Ukraine into the EU was not increased, and indeed rather unexpectedly, it was significantly lower than previously. 

Read the full University of Bristol news item

Risk of rabies reintroduction into the European Union as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war: a quantitative disease risk analysis’ by Tirion Rebecca Cobby, Mark Charles Eisler in Zoonoses and Public Health [open access]